


you and i can make our escape

by thequeenofokay



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Castle
Genre: Crossover, F/M, I'm In Denial., Kara is Tory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:04:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3977362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequeenofokay/pseuds/thequeenofokay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>‘We were given a tipoff that you’re in danger,’ the officer says. He checks his notes. ‘Something about a past that you need to escape from.’</p><p>// in which kara palamas gets a new identity and a new job with the nypd.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you and i can make our escape

**Author's Note:**

> \+ i have never written crossover before?? but i have now reached that level of denial. honestly this was mostly for the benefit of my castle-nerd little sister so. enjoy!!
> 
> \+ also i gotta admit i'm a pretty casual watcher of castle. i mostly just watch for the 30 seconds of maya as tory so apologies if the characterisation of the castle characters is a lil off.
> 
> \+ title from "wake up with me" by gabrielle aplin.

She doesn’t wake suddenly. It’s slow and agonisingly painful. She drags her eyes open, and first there’s white and the quiet beep of a heart monitor. Slowly, everything begins to slide into focus. She’s in a hospital room, and she’s –

Alone.

Grant isn’t here.

The sound of his voice when he thought she was dying is still rattling around in her head. Which brings her to the most important point – where is she, and why is she not dead?

The doctors explain the first part to her when they realise she’s awake: she’s in Manhattan. They’re vaguer on the second, or maybe her brain is still too fuzzy to understand all the medical words they use.

She gathers that she was dropped off here a week ago. That must have been Grant. She can’t understand why he left her here. She thinks she might be angry at him.

They also tell her the NYPD needs to speak with her.

They must know everything she’s done. They must know everything she and Grant did in their search for closure.

At least, even if she spends the rest of her days in prison, she’ll be alive.

 

**

 

They visit her once she’s been awake long enough that her head has cleared.

They give her a new identity. _Tory Ellis_.

‘I don’t understand,’ she says.

‘We were given a tipoff that you’re in danger,’ the officer says. He checks his notes. ‘Something about a past that you need to escape from.’

She nods numbly. ‘Yes.’

‘We’re putting you under witness protection. There’s been a job found for you within the NYPD. We’ve been told you’re skilled in law enforcement,’ he tells her.

‘I suppose,’ she says. She’s been on both sides now. ‘But this isn’t standard procedure. I have no information for the NYPD.’

The officer shrugs. ‘No need, ma’am. The tipoff gave us plenty of information in return for your safety.’

‘Oh,’ she says. She stares at the file sitting in her lap.

 

**

 

She still can hardly stand on her own when they let her out of hospital, but sitting on her own in that room was starting to drive her crazy.

‘Will there be someone to watch over you?’ the doctor asks.

‘Yes,’ she says.

 

**

 

They’ve given her a new apartment. It’s big, but sparsely furnished and not nearly as homey the house she had with Grant. She still misses that house with a strange ache that refuses to go away. She misses the life they were supposed to have together.

He turns up at her door a few days later, in the same old leather jacket. It’s the middle of the night, and the first thing he does is say, ‘I’m so sorry.’

She stares at him. She thinks she might be going to cry, and the pain in her stomach is too strong when she stands, so she moves back to the sofa. He waits for a moment in the doorway before he steps inside and closes it behind him.

‘Where were you?’ she asks.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says. His voice sounds weak and ready to crack, like it did for the first few days after they met. ‘I would have visited you, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea. They might have realised who I was. I couldn’t ruin this for you.’

She nods. ‘You’re not going to leave again, are you?’ she asks.

He hesitates. ‘Do you want me to stay?’ he asks, with an uncertainty that _stings_ , but she’s got three pinched pink scars on her stomach to explain where it came from.

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Of course I want you to stay.’

 

**

 

Kara enters their apartment to the smell of baking. Grant’s in the kitchen, moving cookies from a tray to a plate. She grabs one and kisses him lightly.

‘How was your first day, baby?’ he asks.

‘Good,’ she says. ‘I think? It’s hard to judge, when my only other job was…’ She doesn’t finish, but he nods anyway.

‘Have you any ideas what you want to do yet?’ Kara asks. ‘Not that I mind the cookies, but I don’t think you’ll be happy doing this forever.’

He shrugs. ‘I’m not sure what I _can_ do,’ he says.

She takes a bite of her cookie. ‘We’ll find you something,’ she says.

 

**

 

He brings her coffee while she’s at work. She hadn’t realised that this would be any kind of _deal_ , but then again, she’s working with cops. It’s in their nature to be a dangerous mix of curious and protective.

She’s ambushed the second Grant is out the door again. ‘Who was _that_?’ Esposito asks her, and she can see Detective Ryan hovering just within earshot.

‘Oh,’ she says. ‘Boyfriend.’

‘He’s tall.’ Esposito has a look of mild distaste.

Kara raises an eyebrow. ‘Yes,’ she says.

‘Let me know if he ever hurts you. We take care of our own,’ he says.

She smiles. Shield was supposed to take care of their own. It turns out, they didn’t. But Kara thinks these people might. ‘Thanks,’ she says. ‘I think I’m good, but I appreciate it.’

(She texts Grant as soon as she’s alone. _guy at work says he’ll fight u if u ever hurt me._

 _i could take him_ , he texts back, followed by, _did u tell him i could definitely take him baby?_

_i did not mention that u are a trained specialist. would u like me to?_

_nah. it’s good babe._ )

 

**

 

‘Could I speak with you a minute?’ Beckett asks. Kara nods, and Beckett closes the door.

‘I… know who you were,’ Beckett says, ‘before you were put under witness protection.’

Kara goes still. She thinks she feels a little faint. She thinks, in the back of her mind, she can hear her specialist training kicking in, and it says _run_. ‘Oh?’

‘I know your real name is Kara Palamas. I know you were a Shield agent, before it fell, and I know that you went rogue with your boyfriend,’ Beckett says. Her voice is careful, and Kara knows she isn’t quite a suspect being interrogated.

‘ _Rogue_ is one way of putting it,’ she says. ‘I didn’t think the official records would have been as kind to us.’

Beckett smiles. ‘Actually, they called you “twisted psychopaths”. The details were vague, but your boyfriend – he’s the brother of the dead senator, isn’t he? The one from a few years ago that was all over the news for a few days.’

Kara winces. She doesn’t try to deny it. She wants to defend Grant and herself, to say that there was reasons for everything they did. But it’s starting to feel like a lifetime ago, and she can’t exactly put into words who she was back then any longer. _Desperate_ is the only way she can think to describe it.

Beckett reaches out a hand. ‘Hey,’ she says. ‘I don’t know exactly what you did, but I’m not going to give you up to the authorities. I don’t believe that you’re a _psychopath_.’

Kara breathes out, relaxing slightly. ‘Thank you,’ she says.

 

**

 

Kara’s going to add double dating with Castle and Beckett to her list of “things that she now realises were probably an awful idea”.

‘So,’ Castle says, and drops his voice, ‘I did some digging and – don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone – but you two were like _Bonnie and Clyde_.’

Kara laughs, a little nervously. She realises it should have been obvious that even if Beckett told no one else, she’d tell Castle. ‘I suppose?’

‘Look,’ he says, ‘you don’t have to tell me anything, but I could _definitely_ use it as inspiration for a book.’ He gives the two of them a slightly pleading look. ‘Just a little bit of your story. _Anything_.’

Kara looks at Grant. He gives the kind of shrug small enough that most people would have missed it.

‘Most of what we could tell you would probably have a government agency turning up on your doorstep,’ Kara says.

Castle seems unfazed. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time.’

‘They like to threaten memory wiping,’ Grant adds in.

‘True,’ Kara agrees. ‘They wanted to do it Grant.’

Castle he leans forward. ‘What _happened_? How did you avoid it?’

Kara smiles. She’s almost forgotten that the girl who did those things was her. ‘It’s kind of a long story,’ she says.

Castle’s eyes are lighting up, and Beckett groans. ‘God, you’re just encouraging him.’

 

**

 

By the time she gets home from the gets home from Castle’s awards ceremony, and then the murder they have to deal with after, it’s after two in the morning.

Grant’s awake, reading in their bed. Kara wishes she was surprised.

‘You didn’t have to wait up,’ she says anyway.

‘Couldn’t sleep,’ he says. She knows he still has trouble, that nightmares still plague them both. ‘Anyway, I couldn’t miss seeing you in that dress again, baby.’

Kara smiles. She can’t help herself. ‘You’re such a sucker.’

He gives her a stupid, smug grin. ‘Love you too.’

She rolls her eyes, pushes off her heels and sits down next to him, still fully clothed. ‘I’m so tired,’ she mumbles. She frowns a little, and turns to look at him.

He settles an arm around her. ‘But it’s worth it?’

She nods. ‘Yeah,’ she says. ‘I think I’m finally doing good. It’s worth it.’

**Author's Note:**

> \+ find me on [tumblr](http://karapalamas.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/karapalamas) if you want more sad karaward headcanons in your life.


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